Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joan Torres's All Is Fused: The Beginning

13

Joan Torres's All Is Fused: The Beginning

By

View read count
Joan Torres's All Is Fused: The Beginning
Joan Torres's All Is Fused lives up to its name, delivering music that's a melting pot of styles and sonic strains. Torres—a Dominican Republic-born, Puerto Rico-based bassist with a fondness for modern jazz, rock, fusion, and Latin strains—pens electric and occasionally episodic narratives that burn, bemuse, and burrow their way into the mind.

The Beginning is something of a misnomer, as it's actually the second album from this outfit: Before (Self Produced, 2012) came before it, introducing this band's brand of musical mayhem to the music-buying public. But All Is Fused's sophomore release is as good a place for a listener to start as any, with quick detours, slamming grooves, high proof electro-acoustic blends, forceful vamps, hypnotic tides, and more. One piece might reach its apex with a twin guitar attack ("Mess"), another might feature saxophone and bass sitting in a warm bath of electric piano ("There Was You"), and a third might appear restless, moving from an ominous greeting to an off kilter groove to an expansive setting to a drum solo-supporting vamp ("Summoning"). There's no predicting what will happen at any moment, as Torres is prone to musical detours.

Puerto Rican up-and-comers like saxophonist Jonathan Suazo and under-the-radar guitarist Sergio Gonzalez make notable contributions here, Torres's solid-to-slinky bass work serves as a signpost and directional beacon throughout, and Fernando Luis Garcia's drumming, volatile and mutable as can be, drives the band. There's also magic to be found beyond individual contributions, as many relationships are highlighted throughout. Note the way Garcia and Torres create a volley of bass, cymbals and drums around soloists; or the manner in which Suavo's suave horn melds with Gonzalez's guitar. It's these type of connections that enliven this music.

There are a few spots on The Beginning that cause some ear fatigue, as a vamp may last a bit too long ("Summoning") or a mood may be mined for more than it's worth ("Nightmare"), but these issues are few and far between. On the whole, The Beginning is an arresting album with much to offer.

Track Listing

Summoning; Release; Disjunct Realities; Mess; There Was You; Disruption; Nightmare; Escape.

Personnel

Sergio Gonzalez: guitar; Emanuel Rivera: piano; Fernando Garcia: drums; Jonathan Suazo: alto saxophone; Gabriel Vicens: guitar (4, 7);Gerson Orjuela: drums (1); Joan Torres: bass.

Album information

Title: The Beginning | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Self Produced

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.